Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's
community rules.
Please read the rules before joining the discussion.

City organizes services for Wheel Inn Ranch residents

Residents of Wheel Inn Ranch, a mobile-home park in Scottsdale, are facing eviction and have been told they need to move by January. The park, near Scottsdale Road and Continental Drive in south Scottsdale, has been in existence more than 50 years. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

Residents of Wheel Inn Ranch, a mobile-home park in Scottsdale, are facing eviction and have been told they need to move by January. The park, near Scottsdale Road and Continental Drive in south Scottsdale, has been in existence more than 50 years.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Donna Higgs is one of several residents who likely will have to move after a developer bought the land where the trailer park sits. The developer wants to build a luxury apartment complex on the site. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

Donna Higgs is one of several residents who likely will have to move after a developer bought the land where the trailer park sits. The developer wants to build a luxury apartment complex on the site.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic

A photo from the early 1960s shows the Wheel Inn Ranch. About 80 to 100 people live at the mobile-home park. Mesa developer Ryan Hartman said the park has deteriorating infrastructure. He said he is committed to exceeding state requirements to make sure residents are treated fairly during their move. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

A photo from the early 1960s shows the Wheel Inn Ranch. About 80 to 100 people live at the mobile-home park. Mesa developer Ryan Hartman said the park has deteriorating infrastructure. He said he is committed to exceeding state requirements to make sure residents are treated fairly during their move.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic

David Haynes hands out notices to fellow residents about the relocation. Residents say many of the people living in the park are senior citizens and on fixed incomes. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

David Haynes hands out notices to fellow residents about the relocation. Residents say many of the people living in the park are senior citizens and on fixed incomes.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic

A vacant mobile home at Wheel Inn Ranch. Eighty of the 112 spaces are filled at the south Scottsdale park. David Kadlubowski/The Republic, David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

A vacant mobile home at Wheel Inn Ranch. Eighty of the 112 spaces are filled at the south Scottsdale park.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic, David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Residents Donna Higgs, left, and Deett Breedlove talk about the possibility of being forced from their homes. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

Residents Donna Higgs, left, and Deett Breedlove talk about the possibility of being forced from their homes.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Residents say that 70 percent of mobile homes in the park were built before 1976, and many parks will not accept those homes. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

Residents say that 70 percent of mobile homes in the park were built before 1976, and many parks will not accept those homes.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic

A notice to residents about the relocation hangs on the clubhouse door at the Wheel Inn Ranch. This isn't the first time residents have been on the verge of losing their homes. In 2005, WestStone Properties purchased the land and intended to raze the property for redevelopment. The Scottsdale City Council voted it down. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

A notice to residents about the relocation hangs on the clubhouse door at the Wheel Inn Ranch. This isn't the first time residents have been on the verge of losing their homes. In 2005, WestStone Properties purchased the land and intended to raze the property for redevelopment. The Scottsdale City Council voted it down.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic

The displacement of mobile-home residents is an issue that is unfolding across the United States as properties are sold and redeveloped. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

The displacement of mobile-home residents is an issue that is unfolding across the United States as properties are sold and redeveloped.
David Kadlubowski/The Republic

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

Wheel Inn Ranch residents facing eviction

Residents of Wheel Inn Ranch, a mobile-home park in Scottsdale, are facing eviction and have been told they need to move by January. The park, near Scottsdale Road and Continental Drive in south Scottsdale, has been in existence more than 50 years.

Scottsdale’s Human Services Department will coordinate efforts to help residents at the Wheel Inn Ranch RV and Mobile Home Park transition to new homes without losing their lives’ savings and social services, city staff said.

After receiving eviction notices in May when a developer bought the land that they live on, residents at the park felt like they had nowhere to go, and many didn’t. Renters, many of whom are elderly or live with physical disabilities, were tasked with uprooting their lives in a little more than six months, risking losing access to life-sustaining medical and financial services.

Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield and her husband, former councilman Bob Littlefield, said they were moved by the residents’ struggles to cope with changes that they see as unfair.

“We can’t stop (the new development) from happening, so the next thing is what can we do to help these people so it’s not so traumatic for them,” Kathy Littlefield said.

While Scottsdale cannot block the new development because the land’s new use fits with its current zoning, it can help residents move their trailers and reapply for social services such as Medicare or Veterans Affairs benefits if they have to move to a different zip code.

Scottsdale will organize a resource fair on Aug. 26 at the Granite Reef Senior Center, where residents can go to meet one on one with city human services staffers and representatives from other organizations such as HonorHealth, Disabled American Veterans and the Arizona State Department of Housing, city Human Services Director Greg Bestgen said.

There, residents can visit booths that will correspond to different services or needs, and maybe even receive a free health check. The city will provide transportation to and from the resource fair, Bestgen said.

While Bestgen and other city staff work on the social aspect of the transition, Bob Littlefield decided to start raising money to help pay for residents to relocate their mobile homes, fix them so that they’re fit to travel or buy a new one. State law provides evicted residents with up to $5,000 in moving aid, but only $1,200 for residents who must completely abandon their mobile homes.

Neither sum is enough when factoring in how much of the residents’ life savings they invested into their homes, he said, especially because the assistance doesn’t cover moving external improvements such as garages or porches.

NEWSLETTERS

Get the AZ Memo newsletter delivered to your inbox

We're sorry, but something went wrong

Get the pulse of Arizona -- Local news, in-depth state coverage and what it all means for you

The land’s new owner, MHP Scottsdale LLC, said it will provide $2,000 for each relocating mobile home and pay an additional $500 per home into the state’s relocation fund to help ease the transition.

Photo from the early 1960s of Wheel Inn Ranch.(Photo: David Kadlubowski/The Republic)

Donors can direct funds through Arizona Law Enforcement Outreach & Support. An all-volunteer committee will be in charge of deciding which services to buy for residents instead of giving them the money directly, Bob Littlefield said. Some committee members are also City Council members, while others are neighborhood activists or Valley interfaith leaders.

The committee will also plan fundraising events for later in the fall, although it isn’t sure on any ideas yet, he said.

The Littlefields said the goal is aim to bring a sense of common good back to the city, and treat all residents the way that they deserve to be treated.

“It’s who we are as a city,” Kathy Littlefield said. “We should care. These are the citizens that helped build Scottsdale. They were here first.”